Prognosis for Nick Ogden, Ulster train victim, is good, mother says

TOWN OF ULSTER, N.Y. -- A 21-year-old man lost an arm and a leg when he was struck by a freight train Saturday morning, police said, but the man's mother said his prognosis was good.

The town of Ulster resident was found next to the CSX tracks behind the Ulster Hose Fire Company 5 station about 7:05 a.m., troopers said. They said his right arm and leg were severed but that he was conscious and alert and complained he was cold.

Police did not identify the man, but a friend, Jackie Murphy, said he is Nick Ogden of Lawrenceville Street in Ulster. A nurse at Westchester Medical Center, where police said the train victim was taken, confirmed a patient with that name was being treated there.

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After the Freeman's presstime Saturday night, Ogden's mother, Grace, called the newspaper and said her son's prognosis was considered good in spite of his injuries.

Grace Ogden said her son was sedated, on antibiotics and using a breathing tube but that he had opened his eyes. She said besides the severed limbs on the right side of his body, her son had fractures in his left arm and left leg.

Nick Ogden had surgery on Saturday and will need additional operations, his mother said.

Ulster Hose Company 5 Chief Sam Appa and troopers said the victim was stabilized at the scene by emergency medical technicians from the fire department and the Mobile Life ambulance squad and was taken to Kingston Hospital. He then was flown from the helipad at Benedictine Hospital to Westchester Medical, Appa said.

State police said the man was listed in critical condition.

The fire chief -- in whose company Sean Ogden, the victim's brother, is a volunteer firefighter -- said the train that stuck the man was not at the scene when emergency responders arrived and that it was not clear whether it had been going north or south. Both Appa and state police said the accident was reported by someone on a passing train who saw the injured man on the tracks.

Troopers said they did not know why the man was in a train's path or exactly what time he was struck.

Murphy said Ogden, an avid bowler, "likes to walk in the morning, and we think he was out for a walk when this happened."

Grace Ogden said she didn't know why her son was walking along the tracks.

She said her son was in the Kingston High School Class of 2010 but got a general equivalency diploma, or GED, instead.

City Editor Jeremy Schiffres and staff writer Eric Houghtaling contributed to this report.